almost CURATORS » almost curators

TripBlog #1 Bologna 24-25 gennaio 2015

Pia Lauro — Mon, 26 Jan 2015 12:24:57 +0000

Once again, this year almost CURATORS took part in Set Up Art Fair.
We got back yesterday night and, after a long drive chitchatting and brainstorming, we can firmly state that Bologna and Set Up never let you down!
The Fair (Third Edition) has considerably improved. The cultural program was very extensive and matched the seemingly rich offer from galleries and special projects… our favorite one? Maria Lucrezia Schiavarelli’s Nutrice (Cradle) – we will have the chance to further talk about this later…
This year marked also the birth of Set Up Plus, a combination of side events and exhibitions in partnership with Set Up Art Fair as a great opportunity to spend Saturday night strolling from show to show… allowing also for a little break to taste authentic Bolognese cooking!
Wandering around Bologna, we had the good chance to meet Zed1 and his work at Spazio San Giorgio gallery, as well as Sissi’s works around the city.
On Sunday, we presented our lecture Seeds of Identity in the context of Art Mise en Place, curated by Martina Liverani. Among our guests we had artist MariaLucrezia Schiavarelli and Rosanna Figna (Ricerca e Sviluppo Agugiaro & Figna), who discussed about the theme of cultural identity based on food and especially the importance of cereals as nutritional elements and cradle of civilization. The lecture developed directly from Maria Lucrezia Schiavarelli’s work Nutrice (Cradle), an amazing work made up of colored hand-sewn cloths and frameworks portraying astronomical, astrological, and mythological symbols.
Finally, we spent a long afternoon looking for all the works at the bus station… among our favorite ones? The works and installations presented by Panem et Circenses, Antonello Ghezzi, Raul, Monica Maggi, Michele Fattori, Uno, Stefano W. Pasquini, Zino, Sponge Arte Contemporanea, Print About Me, Van Der, Augusto di Giorgio Donini’s performance “Il pane” (Bread), and many more…
Once again, Set Up and Bologna left us with eyes filled with images and aching legs!
Among Bologna’s musts (as many of you probably already know) the Archiginnasio and the Anatomical Theatre!
Here are some pictures from our trip for you…
Next TripBlog coming soon!

Seeds of identity – almost CURATORS @ Set Up Art Fair 2015

almostcurators — Sat, 17 Jan 2015 21:36:24 +0000

almost CURATORS is pleased to present Seeds of identity, a talk focusing on the theme of cultural identity-building in relation with produced and consumed food, in the occasion of the project Art Mise en Place – sponsored by Expo 2015 – at Set Up Art Fair 2015.

The growing seasons and the related rituals have influenced the development and habits of the greatest societies since antiquity. Starting from the work Nutrice (Cradle) by Maria Lucrezia Schiavarelli, we will try to understand how the relationship between humans and nature has changed over the centuries and how this produced different outcomes from a cultural, philosophical and social point of view. Founder and manager of almost CURATORS Pia Lauro will be presenting the talk – in close collaboration with the artist -; also, Rosanna Figna (Agugiaro & Figna Research and Development) will be attending the talk to enhance the debate over modern cereal production.

During the fair, the talk area will be hosting the work Nutrice (Cradle) by Maria Lucrezia Schiavarelli. The work is inspired by the artist’s autobiography and employs ritualism to evoke the bond and connection existing between man and nature through culture and food. Rousing from Steiner’s anthroposophy, the installation portrays the tradition of rural societies and their foundation on the cyclic nature of the days of the week, the planetary motion and the growing seasons to mark the rhythm of life since antiquity. The seven most important seeds for human nutrition are sewn on large cloths and represent astronomical, astrological and mythological symbols.

The project was born in collaboration with Villa Contemporanea as a double exhibition at both Atelierhof Kreuzberg in Berlin and Villa Contemporanea in Monza to present the work of the Italian artist in Germany.

Seeds of identity

a talk in the framework of Art Mise en Place

January 25 2015, 3 p.m.

Set Up Art Fair

Autostazione delle Corriere

Piazza XX Settembre, 6 – Bologna

Jef Aérosol – Anony(fa)mous @ Wunderkammern

almostcurators — Sun, 25 May 2014 18:56:18 +0000

Wunderkammern presents Anony(fa)mous, the first Italian solo show by celebrated French artist Jef Aérosol.

Jean-François Perroy, better known by his pseudonym Jef Aérosol (1957, Nantes), is an uncontested pioneer of international street art. Without discrimination, he creates portraits of public figures and notorious personas, of anonymous characters, street artists, passersby, beggars, and children alike: all are preferably depicted in black and white, and characterized by an enigmatic red arrow, the artist’s renown signature and “brand”. Actors in the contemporary visual panorama, Jef’s protagonists seem, ultimately, to all look alike, as if both the consequence and contradictory mirror of the same collective tissue that defines them.

For Anony(fa)mous, his first solo show in Italy, Jef will investigate the fine line between absolute fame and complete oblivion through iconic shapes and stereotypes – both renown and anonymous – in search of the hidden place where extremes meet and are identified, to then be cancelled out, infinitely. Famous characters and everyday people, young and old, alive and not: they are depicted together in order to highlight the pure humanity of each. Without distinction, in an entertaining, open challenge to existing mechanisms of contemporary communication, capable of glorification and condemnation, of establishing importance and invalidity of private lives equally worthy of attention and respect. As Jef reveals to us: I starify the anonymous and I anonymize the famous. I take them all back to their “human status”, insisting on the fact that, famous or not, we’re all the same and a star is a human being before anything else.

The artist has collaborated with galleries, museums, and institutions of the highest international esteem. Among his works is the legendary Chuuuttt!!!, a 350 square-meter piece executed next to and in collaboration with the Centre George Pompidou in Paris.

The artist will be present at the opening, and will sign select copies of his catalogues.

As a preview to the exhibition, the artist will realize a permanent installation on the walls of the Institut français – Centre Saint-Louis (Largo Toniolo 22, Rome), on 20 May at 7pm. Other street-art installations will be created in various locations around, an ideal beginning point and continuation of the works on display in the gallery.

The exhibition Anony(fa)mous is part of the larger project Public & Confidential which involves five of the most influential street artists on the international scene. After Dan Witz (NY), Rero (Paris), Agostino Iacurci (Rome/Nuremberg) and Aakash Nihalani (NY), Jef Aérosol (Lille) will conclude the series.

Artist: Jef Aérosol
Title: Anony(fa)mous
Opening: Thursday 29 May, 7:00pm
Curated by: Alberto Milani
Critical essay by: Viviana Checchia
Dates: from 29 May to 19 July, 2014

Public support: Rome’s 5th District
Cultural partners: Institut français – Centre Saint-Louis, Institut français Italia, Nufactory
With the support of: Nuovi Mecenati
Partners: Eurostars Hotels, Necci, Colorificio Dagostini/CBD, Eurograph, Casale del Giglio, Alfani, Trebotti
Media Partners: Exibart, Zero, Graffiti Art Magazine, Juliet Art Magazine, Titolo, Design and Arts Magazine, ArtNoise, almostCURATORS, Le Grand Jeu, Arshake.

WUNDERKAMMERN
Via Gabrio Serbelloni 124, Rome
Web: www.wunderkammern.net
Email: wunderkammern@wunderkammern.net
Tel: +390645435662

Free entry
Opening hours: Wednesday to Saturday, 5pm to 8pm. For appointments call: +393498112973

D-APARTMENT #7

almostcurators — Tue, 05 Nov 2013 13:03:56 +0000

Sorry, this entry is only available in Italiano.

Zoom – Benedetta Falugi

Serena Silvestrini — Thu, 10 Oct 2013 09:01:44 +0000

Benedetta Falugi is a young photographer who approached photography in a rather casual way, by taking pictures of furniture for online sale. Once she found out about this passion, Falugi started her personal research which is aimed at the places of the heart and people living there. Her clean style, the choice of warm colors and enchanting atmospheres characterize her works. For the series “Il Cotone,” the artist investigates a beloved reality, that is the industrial zone and the working class neighborhood in Piombino, which is indeed known as “il Cotone” and where her grandfather lived and worked. Here we can find a subtle narrative in which it is possible to read the will of being close to each other and joining forces to go on. Large menacing clouds coming from factories appear in clear skies; however, they don’t disturb the apparent though built with difficulty tranquility of those who see them looming over their heads. “Il Cotone”, which is still a work in progress, is a sensitive project showing Benedetta Falugi’s ability to reach the heart of both the subjects she portrays and of beholders.